Irreplaceable
by lauraayates
Summary: Set sometime in series 16, before the finale. Harry returns from New York and goes to visit Leo and Nikki at the lab. What happens when Jack catches Harry going through Nikki's locker while she is at a crime scene?


**DISCLAIMER: None of what you recognise belongs to me - I wish it did but sadly it doesn't. Silent Witness, and all characters and storylines that you recognise from the show, all belong to the BBC. I can only take credit for story lines and characters which you do not recognise from the show.**

* * *

"Lyell centre, please." Harry says, as he steps into the taxi waiting for him outside terminal 5 at Heathrow airport. He had come to the end of his 1 year contract at the university in New York, and had been offered a renewal for a further 2 years. The pen in his hand had been touching the page, ready to follow his hand as he signed the contract, but something in him couldn't do it. He missed London too much. He missed the Lyell centre and working for someone like Leo. His current boss was nothing like the man he had come to think of as a father - he was, in fact, the complete opposite - more importantly, he missed Nikki. So he'd put the pen down on top of the paper, collected his things from his office, and left without another word. An hour later he was stepping into a taxi and telling the driver to take him to JFK and spending an insane amount of money on a plane ticket to London Heathrow. He knew the smart thing to do would be to wait a few days, to look online and find the cheapest flight he could, but he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

Before he knew it, the taxi was pulling up outside the Lyell centre and he was handing over a £20 note to pay for the fare, telling the driver to "keep the change." He had his carry-on slung over his shoulder and his suitcase by his side as he stood at the bottom of the steps in front of the door, looking up at the building that he hasn't seen in over a year.

"I'm Professor Cunningham, I'm here to see Professor Dalton and Doctor Alexander." Harry tells the woman behind the desk. He would normally just walk straight through and surprise them upstairs, but he doesn't recognise the receptionist and he'd rather not have to deal with security - who he is pretty sure still hate him for the incident 2 years ago.

Nikki had been sat at her desk - her own for once - doing paper work and he had been doing everything he could to avoid doing the mountain of paperwork on his own desk. Instead he was experimenting with the coffee machine and the different brews he could come up with, from the limited ingredients they had in their kitchenette. He had brewed what he deemed to be the perfect mix and had brought it over for his colleague to try, tripping over the leg of a stool on his way past the doors into the lab. He and the mug of coffee had gone flying, landing down his shirt and on the control panel for the doors. The door had been unlocked at the time and had remained unlocked and open for anyone to wander in for the rest of the day. Security had had to stand outside and check everyone before letting them enter. It had taken the rest of the day to put right and security were not happy with him from that day forward.

He watches as the receptionist picks up the phone and dials a number he still knows by heart, even after all these years. "Professor Dalton?" She says into the receiver. "There's a Professor Cunningham here to see you."

She nods slightly as Leo says something on the other end of the phone - probably something along the lines of " _Cunningham? Are you sure?_ "

The woman in front of him puts the phone down and turns back to Harry "Go on up, press the buzzer by the door and Professor Dalton will let you in."

Harry nods at the woman in thanks, before picking up his bags and heading to the lift. He wants to tell her that's it's okay, that he used to work here and that he still knows the code. He doesn't, he knows that if he does she will likely start up a conversation with him - she looks like the sort of person who won't stop once you get them talking- which he really doesn't want. He just wants to get up there and see his old friends.

He steps off the lift and walks down the corridor to the glass doors. He punches in the code - 5773, the initials of the university's name, London School of Science and Engineering - in numbers and walks into the lab, smirking when he sees Leo stood in the doorway to his office waiting for him.

"Harry." The older man steps forward to embrace him. "It's good to see you again. I wasn't expecting you back any time soon."

"Can't I come and see my best friends?" Harry asks, putting his bags down on the sofa before settling into one of the chairs in front of Leo's desk. "My contract was only a year, and the year is up. It wasn't everything I thought it'd be so I've come home." Harry frowns and looks around the lab, attempting to locate the one person he was desperate to see. "Speaking of which, where's Nikki?"

Leo laughs at what the younger man implies. "She's at a crime scene, she should be back in about an hour." He replies "Anyway, how have you been?" He moves to the coffee machine that still sits in the corner of the room. "You still take it black, 1 sugar?" He asks, pressing start.

"Yeah. Thanks." He nods. "I've been good. Being a professor is so much different, I have so many more opportunities open to me now, and hey, I'm no longer below you" He smirks.

Leo hands a mug of freshly brewed coffee to the younger man and goes to sit behind his desk. "Listen, we may have Jack now but he's a forensic scientist not a pathologist, meaning we're still technically a man down."

"Are you offering me my job back?"

"Not exactly. I need someone, another professor, to share my work-load. I know you, I know we get along great and we make a good team. I won't have to interview you or give you a trial period or anything." He says. "I'm saving us both the effort, me of finding someone I can rely on, and you, of finding a job that you like."

"You know I loved working here." Harry tells Leo. "Before I accept, I want to talk to Nikki, make sure she's okay with it and she's not too pissed off with me for leaving like I did. I don't want it to be awkward or anything."

"Of course." He always knew how Harry felt about Nikki, and how Nikki felt about Harry. He knew that in the beginning, Nikki was angry at him, but once he had told her everything about the contract Harry had been offered, she had understood. She had forgiven him.

"Listen, I can't check into my hotel just yet, do you mind if I grab a quick shower while I'm here?"

"Sure, you know where they are." Leo nods towards the doors leading through to the locker rooms and the morgue. "And hey, there's no need to stay at a hotel, I don't have a spare room, but I do have a couch that you are more than welcome to until you find a place of your own."

"Thanks Leo." He drains the last of his coffee, before picking his bags up and heading to the locker rooms.

* * *

"Who are you and what are you doing?" Harry spins around when he hears an Irish voice behind him. His jeans are sitting low on his hips and a towel is slung around his shoulders, his hair, still wet from his shower, is dripping down onto his shirtless chest. He is digging around in Nikki's locker, looking for his purple shirt that he knew she had held onto after she had borrowed it about a year ago - not long before he had left.

"I'm Harry, and I'm looking for my shirt." Harry tells the man. He turns back to the locker and begins to search the top shelf "Ah ha." He says in triumph, pulling out the desired item, before closing and re-locking the locker. "I knew it would still be in here."

"Nikki? Yeah, there's some guy here digging around in your locker." Harry hears the Irish voice behind him and once more turns to face him, as he finishes buttoning his shirt. He reaches out and takes the phone from where it is still pressed against the other man's ear.

"Ok... I'll be at my desk when you're done." He walks out of the locker room and back to the lab, still trying to wrap his head around what just happened.

"Hey stranger" Harry smirks into the receiver.

"Hey yourself." Nikki smiles, lowering her head so her hair would come down and cover the blush that was beginning to form on her face. "It's good to hear your voice again."

"You too." He's always imagined that the first time he spoke to her again would be face-to-face, that he would be able to pull her close to him and bury his face in her hair. He hoped that his actions and the look on his face would do all the talking, but she can't see his face, she can only hear his voice, or she would if he knew what to say.

"So, erm, what were you doing going through my locker?" She asks, remembering why they were talking on the phone in the first place.

"I was looking for my shirt. You know the purple one you borrowed before I lef-"

"You'd gone before I could return it." He can hear the sadness in her voice and he pictures the sad smile he knows has just formed on her lips. "I'm sorry."

"I should be the one that's apologising. I was the one that left without an explanation or even a goodbye."

"I don't care about that. I'm just glad that you're home. Have you managed to find some where to live?" He hopes this is what he thinks it is, an invitation to stay with her. He knows Leo has offered, but he would much rather sleep in Nikki's spare room again, than on a lumpy old couch.

"I'm on Leo's couch until I can find a place to live."

"Nonsense, you know as well as I do what your back will be like if you sleep on that couch - he really does need to get a new one. You can have my spare room again. It's felt pretty empty at home since you left last time, it'll be nice to have you there again." He knew she wouldn't fail him.

"Thanks, Nikki. Where are your door keys?" He asks, he knows exactly where they will be: in the front pocket of her handbag, which will be stuffed in the bottom draw of her desk. He's always told her that she either needs to keep her bag in her locker, or just get a smaller bag, but she never has listened to him on the subject, and he suspects, she never will. Harry leaves the locker room and heads towards her desk, ignoring the looks he's getting from the Irish guy - he makes a mental note to remember to ask his name, briefly wondering if it's the forensic scientist, Jack, that Leo mentioned.

"You know where they are. Where they always are." She smiles as she hears the creak of her bottom draw opening and she knows he has gone to get them before she's said a word.

"I know. I just thought it would be polite to ask first."

She giggles at him. "The amount of times I've used your desk, or anything else of yours without asking, you should be able to do the same to me. Now, if it was Jack, then that would be another story."

"Who is he anyway? Is he the Irish guy whose phone I'm using?"

"Yeah, he's your replacement."

He frowned at this. "I thought you said that I was irreplaceable?"

A soft smile crosses her lips as she remembers the look on his face after she'd told him that. "You are, but someone had to help us after you jumped ship."

"Nikki…" He sighs.

"I know, I'm sorry. Listen, why don't I cook you a welcome home meal when I finish work tonight?"

"When you've been working all day? I don't think so." He goes back to the locker room to fetch the suitcase that he'd left in there. "Are finishing on time these days or are you still waiting for Leo to make you go home?"

"I go home at a reasonable time, thank you very much. I've even taken up running." She'd missed their conversations. She can't wait until they're face-to-face and they can talk like they used to, she knows it's going to take some time to get back there, but judging by their talk right now, she knows it won't be too long.

She hears him gasping for breath as he comes down from the fit of laughter he'd entered into when she'd told him she had started running. "I'm sorry, I thought you said that you'd started running."

"I have."

"Ok, I believe you." She knows he doesn't. "Listen, I should probably go, I'm getting funny looks from Jack and I have a meal to prepare, I'll talk to you later."

"Ok. I'll see you at home." He smiles at how domestic that sounds, like they've been living together for years.

"Thanks." Harry says, as he hands the phone back to Jack. "Sorry, I took so long. We haven't spoken in a while."

"No problem." Jack nods at Harry, slipping the phone into one of the pockets on the back of his jeans. "I'm guessing that you're the guy I replaced?"

"Well, according to Nikki I'm irreplaceable, so no… but I suppose I am, yeah." He sticks his hand out for the other man to shake. "Harry Cunningham."

"Jack Hodgson." He nods.

"Nice to meet you. I'm just going to…" He trails off and points in the general direction of the exit, not quite knowing what to say now that introductions had been made.

"Yeah." Jack says, turning back to his computer.

Harry turns and walks back into Leo's office. "I've just spoken to Nikki, she said I could stay in her spare room, so…" He picks up his carry-on bag from where he'd left it on the sofa.

"Of course, I had a feeling she would. What did she say about the job I offered you?" Leo presses save on the document and looks up from the screen.

"I haven't told her about it yet, I will over dinner tonight, but she didn't sound too mad at me on the phone so the answer will more than likely be yes."

"Excellent. Are you good to start on Monday?"

"If Nikki's fine with me working here again, then yeah, that should be fine. It gives me the weekend to get settled and back to normal."

"Great." Leo turns back to his computer and clicks a few times, brining up the required paperwork and hitting print. "I'll get the paperwork ready for you to sign first thing Monday then."


End file.
